#writing a chapter
How Long Should A Chapter Be?
If you scroll through my blog long enough, you’ll find that I’ve rebloged and/or have said something about how long a chapter should be. Though I don’t entirely disagree with what I’ve posted before, I think I need to make something clear.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional. I don’t have any traditionally published works (one day I will, hopefully), and I don’t have the experience of a pro. I am just an eager learner online sharing what I know and have recently learned. Corrections, suggestions, and constructive criticism are welcome.
Your word count per chapter isn’t thatimportant.
How Long Should A Chapter Be?
If you scroll through my blog long enough, you’ll find that I’ve rebloged and/or have said something about how long a chapter should be. Though I don’t entirely disagree with what I’ve posted before, I think I need to make something clear.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional. I don’t have any traditionally published works (one day I will, hopefully), and I don’t have the experience of a pro. I am just an eager learner online sharing what I know and have recently learned. Corrections, suggestions, and constructive criticism are welcome.
Your word count per chapter isn’t thatimportant.
Sure, most publishing houses in the industry have preferences on how many words you can fit in a book, but you don’t need to be strict on yourself with the numbers.
I have read books with chapters as long as 20+ pages andas short as 2 pages. In the same book, okay?
Your chapters don’t need to have a specific word count as long as you’re telling the story.
You can have one chapter with 3000 words, but so much stuff happens that you might as well cut it up into smaller parts that are easier to digest. You can also have a chapter with more than 3000 words, more than 5000 even, and it still feels like 1 solid part.
But don’t think how much you say doesn’t matter. It does. But how much you say andhow much happens are equally important.
You can say a lot about a small event. You can describe sensations, the way someone blinked then turned away, the way you caught your friend staring at you, the way your teacher stuttered and almost failed to save face, etc. Even if they’re short-lived and can only realistically happen in a second, as a writer, you can prolong that second by saying more. When you say more, the reader reads more. Thus, making the experience slower.
The opposite can be done with less description. If you want something to feel faster, explain less. Instead of writing a paragraph about a single action, limit your descriptors. That way, you’ll fit more actions in fewer words and in less time.
But slow doesn’t mean bad. Neither does fast.
It all depends on the scene.
What you say and how much you say should depend on how you want the reader to feel…how you want them to experience it. If it’s a fight scene with a lot of actions, and you want your reader to feel how quick your antagonist’s moves are, talk less. Show more.
But if you want time to slow down for them, make use of the character’s voice. Give them an opinion to share. Make your readers experience the frozen moment with your character. Describe the feeling of what is happening rather than just the initial event.
But if you’re as stubborn as I am, and you still want a specific number, google the average word count of a chapter within the genre you’re writing (also include the ideal length of the overall work: novella, novel, etc.).
According to wordcounter.net, the general guideline is 3000 to 5000 words per chapter. But really, it’s just a guideline.
“…chapter length should be defined by the story and that any chapter length targets you decide on are merely guidelines.”
What I learned online is that even chapters, the bricks you use to build the story, could have structure. In my opinion, if you can take the extra time to thoroughly build the structure of your chapters, please do. It’ll make it better in the long run.
But if you’re (still) as stubborn as I am, just make sure it has a BEGINNING, MIDDLE, & END.
You can start a chapter exactly in the middle of an action. That’s fine. For as long as that action/event is something that leadsto the main focus of the chapter. By all means, skip the idle scenes that give no meaning and serve no use to the story. But you don’t want your reader missing out on crucial details.
The chapter has to begin somewhere, lead to an important question/task/mission/whatever in the middle, and a solution (at least a half solution) - plus another question to keep your readers reading - in the end.
Remember, your word count doesn’t tell you whether you have a good story or not. It just says how long the story actually is. Just as a 15-minute Taylor Swift short film can make you cry and a 2-hour action movie can feel like it’s only been 10 minutes, stories consisting of 1k to 100k words rely on meaning, emotion, passion, and purpose to have value.
Thanks so much for reading! I hope this helped you at least a little. I’m open to suggestions, tips, submissions, corrections, and constructive criticism. Just send me an ask, submit or hit the DMs <3
